FIF#188-Beast Wars II: Super Life-Form Transformers

Centuries after the Great War, the battle between good and evil rages on for the Transformers.  The descendants of the Autobots, the Cybertrons, receive a distress signal that leads Lio Convoy and a small squad to the Planet Gaia.  Waiting for them are Destrons, descendants of the Decepticons, who quickly ambush and trap the Transformers on the surface.  In order to survive, the Cybertrons must take on new Animal forms strong enough to strike back at the Destrons and discover the truth about why they have come to Gaia and what mysteries lie at the heart of this mysterious planet.

 
While FIF was on hiatus this summer, a new Transformers movie, Rise of the Beasts, arrived in theaters and marked the Live Action debut of characters from the beloved 90’s spinoff/continuation of the original Transformers TV Series: Beast Wars Transformers.  While it wasn’t my entry into the Transformers franchise, Beast Wars was still the Transformers series for my generation with state of the art (at the time) CG Animation and writing that made it clear this wasn’t just a show for kids but one aiming to appease old and new fans of the Transformers franchise.  You might, or might not, recall a couple of years back, I did a three part First Impression Friday special where I looked at the first episodes from three Anime Transformers series produced following the conclusion of the original 80’s Transformers series in 1987.  Well Beast Wars got a similar treatment in 1998 with Beast Wars II: Super Life-Form Transformers.  Considering how crazy the 80s Transformers Anime got and how they became further and further disconnected from the source material, is the first episode of this Beast Wars sequel any different?
 
The odd thing about Beast Wars II is that it aired in Japan from 1998-1999, while the OG Beast Wars series was still airing in the States.  But honestly, that doesn’t matter because, much like the latter years of 80s Transformers Anime, they don’t really have much to do with one another.  There’s an entire new cast of characters, a brand new setting and even a new enemy that doesn’t even follow the “Beast” motif of Beast Wars.  The Maximals, or Cybertrons, take up that mantle as they quickly discover they need to adapt to Animal forms in order to survive on Gaia.  As for the Predacons, or Destrons, they just decide to stick with the more vehicular modes of the previous generation of Decepticons.  It feels kind of lazy, especially considering the Maximal designs are actually pretty cool.  I could see characters like Apache, Bighorn and Tasmania Kid being included in the Beast Wars toyline.  We also see nods to Beast Wars favorites Cheetor and Airazor at one point as well, but that’s more a nod than any connecting tissue between the Anime and CG Series.  As far as the first episode goes, the Destrons look content to remain classic Decepticons and not adopt any evil Dinosaurs or what not like the Predacons of OG Beast Wars.
 
It's made clear early on in the first episode that this is a more kid friendly Beast Wars.  As I said, the OG Series appealed to younger and veteran Transformers fans with a story that continued and connected directly to the classic Generation 1 era while offering a new jumping on point for the franchise.  Beast Wars II is aim squarely at the kids with the more friendly looking animal forms (including a very Kimba the White Lion looking Beast Mode for Cybertrons leader Lio Convoy), and the comedic tone among the Cybertrons and Destrons.  The only Cybertron I took seriously was Scuba but that just because he wasn’t trying to crack jokes and wasn’t tripping over his very dysfunctional teammates.  Then there’s Apache, who simps pretty hard for his leader and is seen drinking himself silly when he thinks he’s gotten the guy killed and his teammates don’t respect him.  As for the Destrons, you have leader Galvatron bashing the head of his little brother, Megastorm.  The brief bits of action alleviate the comedy a little bit, which is welcome because the premiere looms dangerously towards Looney Tunes territory at times.
 
With the rather cutesy Anime designs and a greater focus on humor, I’m not sure Beast Wars II is for me.  It does lean hard into its wacky Anime side for sure and that’s fine so long as it sticks to the basic roots and nature of the Transformers.  But as I figured, Beast Wars II is so far removed from its source material that it’s Beast Wars in name only and feels like it came from that same 80s Mecha era where there were too many shows of a kind to really stand out.  This Anime was popular enough to get a sequel though, Super Life-Form Transformers: Beast Wars Neo.  Hopes aren’t high but maybe it’ll be worth a glimpse, at least for another First Impression.  Til then, I say stick with the classic Beast Wars cause it’s still a ridiculously good show and a more than worthy addition to the Transformers legacy.